My Review of The Cove at The Atlantis, Bahamas

 Hi all!  I have been home for a few days from a trip my husband and I took to The Bahamas.  That is why my Valentine post was done so early this year...for me anyway.  I had to plan ahead!  Today, I thought I would give you my opinion of The Cove, which is the hotel where we stayed at The Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas.

My daughter, Amanda, had traveled to The Cove last year with her family and highly recommended it for us when we were trying to decide where to go for a quick winter get-away.  We made our plans a few weeks ago and were locked into the trip.  Unfortunately, three days before we were to leave the US government issued a travel guidance because of crime on the island.  That wasn't great news but, we decided to go rather than losing all the money we had put down. In the end, we were glad we did but...

in truth, we had a bumpy start to our trip, both literally and figuratively.  On the plane trip down we had to divert to Miami to refuel after circling the Nassau airport for an hour because of high winds and rain.  We managed to get to the Bahamas later that night but, the windy and rainy weather lasted the whole next day and into the morning of the next.

With little to do outside on our real first day of our vacation, we chose to go to the Royal Hotel which was a windy and sometimes wet walk even under the covered (open) walkways.  We stayed in the Royal's large lobby, had lunch and walked around most of that day.  There is an indoor aquarium you can visit in the hotel, too.

 I have digressed, now about The Cove!  Our room was absolutely gorgeous!  It had a bedroom area as well as a sunken living room area and a very large, elegant bathroom with a large freestanding tub, a shower area, a separate commode and separate sinks for laying out all of your stuff!  Unfortunately, I did not take a photo of the room and its amenities when we arrived when everything looked pristine.  I guess it never crossed my mind until the end of our trip.  However, I do have one photo of the sunken living room with its beautiful view.  I apologize for the snacks and the flip-flops in the photo.  I forgot to remove them.

The hotel was beautiful in every way.  The scenery was awesome.  The finishings were beautiful.  Everything was high end.  The only negative thing I can say about the layout was that for the weather we were experiencing the open layout meant we were always out in the elements.  This is why my hair never looked good.  It was windblown the whole time.  Haha!  Good thing I am older now and don't care as much.

The Cove does not have a lobby of any use other than checking in.  They opted for open pathways, which are lovely but, in bad weather they do not serve a great purpose.  Thankfully, the rooms are large so you can spend nice times there but, who wants to stay in their rooms on vacation?  I would say, for us, this was a downfall because of the weather.  If it had been great weather, I would have loved the layout.

For breakfast, there are two choices on the grounds of the hotel that we discovered.  There is The Perch, which was a grand restaurant with a vast menu.  The restaurant had the breakfast regulars of pastries, muffins, eggs, pancakes, as well as healthy choices of oatmeal and fruit.  We only went to The Perch on the first morning.  The rest of the time my husband went to Starbucks (on property) for take-out, and we ate in our room overlooking the great view.  For us, that was the best choice and the most economical.  However, The Perch was quite reasonable for the food you received, we felt.

The hotel has three pools that we saw.  There may have been one more behind The Reef, which I believe was a condo or timeshare community.  We were never given and information about the hotel.  You were supposed to look up everything on the QR Code provided.  We just winged it.  It worked out for us but, you might want to be more proactive if you go :).

This was the pool we lounged at the whole time we were on the island.  This was the Cove Atlantis pool.  We liked that it was easy to find seats.  There was no pressure to have attendants help you but, they were there if you wanted the help.  The Cove Beach was right next to this pool, and it was beautiful.  The water was that vibrant blue that we all love.  The weather never was warm enough for me to go to the beach, however.  Other people were happy to go but, it was still a little too windy even after the storm passed for me.  I would love to go back and try it sometime though.

This is the adults only pool.  It was gorgeous but, again, the weather was a little too cool for me to enjoy this much shade.  It did look luxurious, however.

This is a distant photo of the Cascades Pool.  That pool had nice comfortable lounge chairs. We really should have tried it but, I guess we are creatures of habit.

 We continued to opt for the Cove Atlantis pool.  It was buzzing with people and kids, which I like, and the tube ride was just around the corner.  We actually went on the lazy river ride which wasn't so lazy.  There were lots of "rapids" along the way but, it was really fun, even for us old-timers!

There was a water slide inside of this structure ↓.  When the winds subsided, there was a lot of activity going on over there.

There are many spots for children.  There is a large pool just a short walk from our favorite pool that had all sorts of slides and flowing water and splash pads I believe for the little ones.  It's a fun place for the whole family.

Next, I will talk about the restaurants at The Cove.  We found out very quickly that you need to make reservations early.  The restaurants fill up quickly.  The second night. which was really our first whole day, we had to trek back to The Royal and ended up eating at the buffet restaurant, Poseidon's Table.  My husband loved it!  It was all you can eat from apps to dessert.  One thing you should know, however.  Food is very expensive at the Atlantis.  This buffet meal with just water to drink was $140 for the two of us.  The other dinner meals we had ranged from $180-$220 and we eat fairly simply, just to give you an idea.

The next night we were able to get a reservation at Paranza, an Italian restaurant.

This is the entrance to Paranza.  It has a lovely outdoor patio, which, of course, because of weather we couldn't use but, it was lovely, nonetheless.

The inside dining was elegant and the waitstaff was excellent.  The food was very good but, with smaller portions, I would say.  All-in-all it was a very nice dining experience I thought.  I would go again for sure.

This was another restaurant at The Cove, Fish.  We were unable to get a reservation there so, I cannot give you any info on it.  It must have been good because it filled up quickly.  Oh, and by the way, Paranza was closed on Mondays and Fish was closed on Tuesday so plan accordingly.

I forgot to mention Seaglass.  This is a casual bar-type restaurant with small plates, salads and sandwiches.  We dined there the very first night that we arrived right off the plane.  The food and drinks were really, really good and the service was also excellent.  It was a nice place to chill after a day at the pool, as well.  Oh, and there were slot machines in the restaurant also.

I guess I should mention that we are not gamblers so all of that was wasted on us but, if that is your vibe there are many places to go to gamble if you'd like :).

Here is the outdoor view of Seaglass.

Just a few more photos of the hotel.  (I apologize for the quality of the pictures.  I decided to take most of them the last day we were there.  People were all over so, I really couldn't take the photos I would have liked.)

There are pools of fish winding throughout the open area of the hotel.  There is much to look at and enjoy.  All-in-all I would not hesitate to go back to The Cove.  It was one of the nicest hotels I have had the pleasure to vacation reside.

As you can see from this photo, my hair was a complete mess but, what can you do?  Haha!

Finally, as far as safety goes at The Atlantis, there appeared to be staff everywhere, so it never felt unsafe.  The ride back and forth to the airport was a little nerve-wracking because of the government warning and there are some unpleasant sights to see but, we did not have a problem coming and going either.  I would give some thought to your transportation before you arrive just to be sure.

Thank you for letting me tell you my impressions of The Cove at The Atlantis.

Enjoy the holiday weekend!